Wow, according to the Wikipedia article, this was the most expensive Canadian film ever made when it was released in 1971. Clearly, things were a little less fiscally sound up north in the early 70s. Fortunately, it would appear that some of that budget went to costuming, because there is a nice variety of fur fashions on display (among other things). Not sure where on the timeline of “sexy ski comedies” this falls, but Snowballin’ seems like an earlier example of the genre.
Snowballin’ – Fur Fashion Stats
- Fur Runtime: 10:20 minutes
- Film Runtime: 72 mintues
- On-Screen Ratio: 14.35%
Find-a-Fur: Snowballin’, 1971, (aka Sex in the Snow, French: Après-ski)
(All times are approximate and are affected by the cut of the film.) Note, there are apparently a few different versions of the film; the one I looked at was about 1:12 minutes, and for the sake of narrowing it down, had no spliced-in hardcore scenes, but it falls way short of the 105-minute runtime Wikipedia lists.
- 07:55 – red fox
- 08:40 – blue fox
- 17:50 – 20:30 – lynx trim + lamb trim
- 28:15 – red fox
- 29:15 – coyote hat
- 30:49 – 32:30 – silver fox to coyote hat
- 34:15 – rabbit fur coat
- 53:25 – 58:20 – red fox + silver fox intermittently
- 1:06:00 – 1:07:50 – blue fox blanket
- 1:08:00 – 1:09:10 – end – lynx coat + hat to red fox
Our most prolific fur-wearing character is Karen, portrayed by the lovely Mariette Lévesque, who I’ll suspect may be from somewhere in Quebec… Karen is a model, which is enough to explain the wardrobe in a low-rent ski comedy. Wait, I guess I can’t call this a “low-rent” ski comedy… “respectably average rent” ski comedy, then.
She appears in a red fox hat and vest while doing some modeling. I should point out that while there are a number of furs in the film, the best ones don’t rack up big runtime numbers.
Karen is later seen taking a meeting with her photographer while in the vicinity of a very large blue fox blanket.
The only other cast member I think I can identify is Céline Lomez, playing the somewhat familiarly named “Terry Lopez,” whose sheepskin-trimmed jacket does rack up some runtime.
Karen pops up again in a silver fox hat and coat.
Later, she will appear in a lynx coat and hat, which suggests that the budget really did go to the wardrobe.
There are a few other incidentals that pop up along the way. The best of which is the red fox coat that rounds out the film just ahead of the credits.
Overall, the variety is pretty good, even if the best furs aren’t given much attention. Still, it manages to pull out a 15% runtime rating. However, considering the disparity in the length of the “official” film and the version I found, this may be lower. Hey, it may be higher, depending on what hit the cutting room floor.